Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the oath of office on Saturday after winning reelection last weekend and extending his rule into a third decade.
“I, as president, swear upon my honour and integrity before the great Turkish nation and history to safeguard the existence and independence of the state,” Erdogan said during a ceremony at the parliament in Ankara, which was broadcast live.
In a runoff election on May 28, Erdogan, who has been in power the longest, received 52.2% of the vote. His electoral win defied the projections of most surveys and occurred despite a cost-of-living crisis that was seen to have dampened his prospects.
Erdogan’s new five-year term allows him to continue his previous policies to boost its status as a regional military power.
Following Turkey’s most significant economic crisis since the 1970s, Erdogan, 69, was elected prime minister in 2003 when his AK Party won the election.
He was initially chosen as president by the country’s people in 2014, and he was re-elected in 2018 after winning additional executive powers in a 2017 referendum.
The May 14 presidential election and May 28 runoff were pivotal given that the opposition had been confident of ousting Erdogan and reversing many of his policies, including proposing sharp interest rate hikes to counter inflation, running at 44 per cent in April.
However, he won the election and once again became the elected president of Turkey.
